Demonstration organizer Kebrom Sibhatu says thousands of Eritrean exiles participated in other parts of Ethiopia. He was among some 500 people who demonstrated peacefully in Addis Ababa on Wednesday. Ethiopia hosts about 60,000 refugees from the Red Sea nation.

Kebrom says Eritrea's authoritarian regime forcibly conscripts its citizens into the army and kills others.

Ethiopia's autocratic government has an antagonistic relationship with Eritrea and gave the refugees permission to demonstrate. Eritrea has fought former ruler Ethiopia twice since gaining independence in 1993.